


It Will Rise in Perfect Light

by quartzguts



Series: The Old Astronomer [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Spoilers - Kingdom Hearts III, but the spoilers are there, seriously there arent a lot of them, so please dont read this unless youve finished the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 13:46:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17602481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartzguts/pseuds/quartzguts
Summary: WARNING: SPOILERS FOR KINGDOM HEARTS IIIThe battle is won, and Isa is ready to start moving forward again.





	It Will Rise in Perfect Light

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, there are spoiler warnings in the tags and the summary. Here's another one: this fic contains spoilers for Kingdom Hearts III. They aren't major spoilers per se, but they are there. This fic also isn't strictly canon compliant but.... hey, that's what fic is for, right?  
> Happy Kingdom Hearts III, everyone!!

The first time Isa saw Terra after Xehanort had been defeated, he did a double take.

He had heard about Terra through Lea, Roxas, and Xion. He knew that Terra had once been half of Xemnas. He knew that he had wielded his keyblade against Xehanort once he was freed from the darkness’s influence. He knew that he was kind and brave. He also knew, thanks to Xion’s dreamy descriptions, that he was fairly attractive.

He wasn’t expecting _this_ , though. He wasn’t expecting tanned, strong arms and fluffy brown hair and ocean-deep blue eyes. He wasn’t expecting to suddenly feel the need to fix his own hair and straighten his clothes.

And he especially wasn’t expecting for Terra to take one look at him and start blushing.

Interesting.

Isa decided that he was going to have to talk to him - to his former Superior - at some point, and it might as well be now. They were at Sora’s family’s house, all together for the first time since the final battle. Most of the others had gone to fetch lunch for everyone, leaving only him, Terra, Xion and Aqua in the room. A quick glance at the girls let him know that they weren’t going to interrupt them. Isa took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“Hey,” he said, feeling a little dizzy. He thumbed at the tarot deck in his sweatshirt pocket nervously.

“Hi,” Terra replied quietly. “Uh, how are you doing?”

“Better than before,” Isa said. “What about you? It must’ve been difficult....” He had intended to elaborate, but one look at Terra’s strained smile and he knew it wasn’t necessary.

“It was hard for both of us,” he said, and Isa nodded in agreement. When Terra motioned for him to sit down next to him on the couch, he acquiesced quickly.

Xion giggled from across the room. When Isa looked over at them, the girls were grinning. Aqua covered her mouth with her hands to hide her glee, while Xion made no such effort.

“I can see we have an audience,” Terra joked. The hint of laughter in his voice made Isa’s heart flutter. He’d often wondered what Xemnas would’ve been like if he’d possessed feelings, and now he was getting to see it for himself.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Isa said. “I could go over and flash the death card to scare them off.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Terra said. “Besides, Aqua would never miss an opportunity to embarass me.”

“Oh?”

“I suspect she’ll be teasing me about this later.”

Isa looked back at Xion, who gave him a thumbs up. “I know the feeling.”

They sat together in silence for a few minutes, neither knowing quite what to say. Although their days as nobodies were long gone, the faint feelings of loyalty and affection from that time had returned with a vengeance. Isa’s hands itched, and he wanted to reach out with them and cup Terra’s face. Wipe imaginary tears from his eyes. Touch his lips.

During the old days of Organization XIII, there had been times when Xemnas would act less like the Superior of the In-Between and more like a friend to his subordinates; he’d joke around with them, cook for them, even humor them by attending Demyx’s “concerts” in the lobby or listening to Zexion animatedly explain the plot of a book he’d read recently. It was only after Isa had learned the truth about Xemnas’s identity that he’d realized that part of him had been _Terra_. That Terra was the one who would sometimes look at him softly as he said his other’s name.

“I feel I owe you an apology,” Terra said suddenly. “No, I _know_ I do. For everything I did to you when I was him.”

“There’s no need,” Isa replied, and was surprised by how much he actually meant it. Terra looked up at him, surprised. “It’s in the past. And I’ve already forgiven you, anyway.”

“You can’t have,” Terra said quickly. His eyes were starting to mist over. “Not so soon.”

He might have been right. But Isa already understood all of it; not just Terra’s feelings, but his own as well. The guilt and horror from those days would never disappear, but it _had_ faded. The heart in his chest, raw and unchained, beat to a different tune now.

Isa reached out and pressed his hand against Terra’s chest. “I know what my heart wants,” he said. “I know what _I_ want.”

A door shut softly across the room. The girls were gone, and they were alone.

Terra sighed happily and placed his hand over Isa’s. “So do I.”


End file.
